Vulnerable
by Lily-Potter-Evans
Summary: Lily confides in a notebook while James confides in the stars...will they end up confiding in each other and mark the beginning of a beautiful friendship?


**Disclaimer: If I owned all of this, would I really be here? No…therefore I'm not JKR. **

* * *

As Lily came back from Double Potions, she felt as though the whole world was upon her shoulders. It was Seventh Year, she was Head Girl and she was stuck working with _Potter_ of all people. Yup, Potter. Only Merlin knows what Dumbledore was thinking when he made him Head Boy. Why not Remus? Oh, the insanity of it all! 

Of course Potter had never let her live it down. He'd constantly reminded her that they need to work _together_ this year being Head Boy and Girl after all. Not too far behind was Sirius Black agreeing to Potter's ever word but actually teasing her as well through Remus' protests of "Leave her alone, boys" and Peter's timid glances over at Lily as though she might strike him dead at any second because he associated with such boys.

Lily finally made it to the Heads' common room, exhausted after having to help Slughorn create a batch of Felix Felicis that Dumbledore requested while the rest of the class proceeded to continue on the project Slughorn assigned them earlier in the year: Find and re-create one of the most common poisonous potions and create its antidote. Slughorn sure was weird at times. Why in the world would he come up with something like that was beyond Lily's comprehension. Then again, everyone knew Slughorn was a bit off his rocker.

She carefully placed her books at her desk near the window, making sure that it was indeed her desk and not Potter's. Using her wand, she unlocked the a drawer which could only be opened at her command (she'd learned the nifty trick after Sirius had stolen her diary back in Third Year). In that drawer was a notebook that was given to her by her mother the last time she'd seen her, which was at the train station leaving for her last year at Hogwarts. Her mother had told her to write in it whenever she felt frustrated or had too much pent up inside her. Lily thought this as good a time as any to just let the ink of her quill flow gracefully upon the parchment.

_Dear Notebook(you're not really a diary so I won't call you that),_

_Tough day it has surely been. Care of Magical creatures was entertaining with Professor Kettleburn running around the patch near the forest where class normally takes place chasing down the kneazles he'd let loose. For some reason, they felt it unnecessary to listen to him and instead just ran at me as if under some spell. Needless to say, that was quite unexpected but I help the poor professor put them back in the pen he'd made that way we could all study them closer. The rest of the day went by without incident until I got to Double Potions. Honestly, you'd think Slughorn could manage to make a batch of Felix Felicis with his eyes closed. But no, alas, the old man had to take me away from my project with Alice to "help" him out. Ugh. _

_Another "Ugh" I should write about is Potter. Honestly, this whole week he's asked me out at least 439 times. Today was different though. I haven't seem him all day and that is quite extraordinary, even for him. Sure he's skipped class countless times, but being Head Boy he knew he could not since he must set the example for the younger students. I only did see him at Lunch in the Great Hall and he looked (dare I say it) morose and depressed. Weird, eh? It worries me slightly because, although we do not get along, I would never wish for anyone to look so down in the dumps. During patrol tomorrow night, I shall ask. _

_Well off I go, I must get all this homework done by Friday…and it's Wednesday night._

_Love,_

_Lily_

With that, she closed the notebook and placed it back into the drawer. She made sure to lock the drawer with her handy spell and then began to walk over to the comfortable couches in front of the fireplace. Without noticing, she closed her eyes and fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

He needed to get away from it all. The only way he could possibly think of doing that was getting on his broomstick and fly over to the Astronomy Tower. He couldn't bear it. He'd known that _He_ would come after them, but why now? They'd never see him graduate. They'd never see him get married or have children. This world was cruel beyond belief, and he was stuck in the middle of it all. If only he could have the one thing that would surely get him through it all. But, even that, was denied to him. This was simply because of his actions, that much he knew. If he hadn't been a prat or a tease, he may have gotten on her good side. But no, alas, he was James Potter. He could never be subtle or compassionate. At least, that's what she thought. 

To Lily, he'd always be James "My Head is the Size of the Giant Squid" Potter. If only he knew what she wanted, he'd do it for her in a heartbeat. To her, his "crush" was just that. A crush. To him, it was so much more. He loved the way her hair would sway when she walked. He loved the way her face would flush when she was telling someone off after they'd been caught out and about after curfew. He even loved the way she yelled at him for some stupid action he'd done. Yes, James Potter loved Lily Evans. Of course, she'd always deny that.

James reluctantly got back onto his broomstick and began to fly over to the Heads' Room. He landed softly on the balcony and began to walk into the common room when he noticed a sleeping figure in the room. Carefully, he propped up his broom by the window and walked over to find a sleeping Lily peacefully lying on the couch in front of the fire. James thought she looked absolutely beautiful just lying there, without a worry in the world, dreaming of probably the most innocent of things. How he wished he could stare at her like that every night, just watching her sleep and wondering what she would be dreaming about. Moving carefully, so as to not interrupt her sleep, he walked over again to the balcony where he'd landed just moments before. He leaned on the railing looking out towards the stars, wishing he'd have some kind of way to get to his beloved's heart.

Through all his wishing, he did not notice a figure slowly stirring on the couch behind him.

* * *

Lily thought she'd heard a noise as she awoke from a nap she hadn't intended to take. Nonetheless, she felt refreshed and knew she could at least tackle one homework assignment before heading off to bed. As she got off the sofa, she noticed a figure out on the balcony through the ruffles the wind made on the curtains over the window. She walked towards them and carefully pushed one of the curtains aside, hoping to learn the identity of the person on the balcony. Surprised sort of filled her when she realized it was none other than James Potter. 

'Since when does Potter like the stars?' Lily pondered to herself as she stared at the boy leaning on the ledge looking out.

A couple of minutes passed by until James managed to mutter without turning around "Anything I can do for you?"

Lily, of course, had not realized that James knew she'd been standing there. She gave a loud squeak and jumped back in fright. He just called her back while mumbling something about "I'm sorry" and "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted fresh air." For a second, she thought he was joking, but noticed his demeanor showed no trace of jokes or tricks. Against her judgment, she walked through the door leading to the outside and joined James in his staring out at the infinite specks of light littered in the sky.

"Beautiful, eh?" James murmured, trying to strike up a conversation to avoid an awkward silence.

"Yes. They are quite beautiful" Lily replied, though a little weary at the fact that she was actually having a conversation with one Mister James Potter.

Silence ensued, giving them a chance to gather their bearings. Before James had a chance to say anything, Lily jumped in with a question of her own:

"What's wrong, James?"

James turned around completely shocked. Lily had never called him by his first name. Through all the insisting and all the begging, she'd always called him Potter. Naturally, anyone would be shocked, right?

Lily seemed to notice what she'd done and began to blush furiously. The color of her cheeks seemed enough to rival that of her hair, which ran with a bright red color to match her fiery temper. James marveled in her embarrassment before replying.

"I miss my mum and dad. Voldemort decided to take them from me last week. Evil git. I'll get him if it's the last thing I do."

Of course, Lily had no idea. She'd finally understood why he was being so depressed and looked sad. Come to think of it, his musings of asking her out this week lacked the usual gusto he'd put in them weeks, months and even years prior to the current conversation. Now, everything just clicked into place. No matter how much she detested James Potter during school because of his constant teasing and bragging, she'd never seen him like this. So _vulnerable_ to outside influence. It was then when she took it upon herself to make him happy, and she knew just the way to do so.

She hugged him.

Not a bear hug. Just a hug.

To make it even better, she added a small kiss. On the cheek.

James felt as if a something had swelled up inside him. He couldn't explain it. It was as if everything he'd ever wished for was happening. She made him feel safe and wanted. Even with that small hug, it let him know that she really didn't detest him. But at least he knew she cared.

After what seemed like ages, they looked at each other and smiled. Genuine smiles. Lily, after a couple of minutes, finally decided to speak up.

"This doesn't mean 'I love you' just so you know. It means 'I can stand you' now, ok?" Lily piped up while giving him a smirk that anyone would be jealous over.

James, completely entranced by her, merely nodded in response to her words. She knew that the agreement needn't be spoken, for the both now knew that they could withstand to be in each other's presence (Lily more than James).

As Lily began to walk to her dormitory for a good night's rest she heard James call to her.

"Umm…Evans?" James asked hesitantly.

"Yes?" Lily replied, curious as to what he wanted to say.

"Call me James"

"You can call me Lily."

* * *

**A/N: Blah…first try at a one-shot. Normally, I'm not into them but I couldn't sleep. I know, bad me. I have work in a couple hours and I have to take my little sister to school in the morning. Hey, but I can't say this wasn't entertaining. Please, read and review to tell me what you think. I want to know how I did on my first one-shot. Only way for me to know is if you review...please??? I'll give you cookies!**

**Pretty please?**

**-LPE**


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